Forum rules
This forum is for new kiters/beginners to share info and experiences and to get answers to kiting questions. All questions are valid. Please provide proper answers (no sarcasm/joke replies, etc.) as we'd like to avoid any confusion or misinformation.

Tunces wrote:Easy now, I'm just posing a question after observing an undeniable pattern over the years, not passing any judgement. However it would appear you answered my question, inadvertent as it may have been....

Tunces wrote:So I have to ask a question....It seems like every time Royce makes a post it contains something controversial, and then he gets hammered by everyone - sometimes quite venomously. The question is this: Is Royce trying to get under everyone’s skin and raise attention doing so, or is he just an idiot who looks at life differently than other normal human beings?

I would have to say that I don't think he is either. Early on, he's taken a lot of crap, some of it unwarranted, some valid, but that's for everyone as an individual to decide. The reasons aren't important, we're beyond that. If he were simply another kiter, rather than a business owner running a school teaching lessons, the volume of any crap he's taken in the past would probably be cut in half. If you're in the kite business, forums are tricky, you want to represent yourself professionally and be helpful, but at the same time it's ok to express yourself as an individual with opinions also.

By now, I think he's paid his dues and then some and has earned the respect of many in the kiting community. It's clear now, despite various opinions about social buying, volume lessons, etc., that their lessons program is solid, kiters are getting good instruction, and we've not seen fallout or issues at the neighboring sites with inexperienced kiters. I know some of his responses are a result of having taken so much sh*t in the past, so I don't blame him.

I guess I'm saying, he/KGB have something positive to offer the community, whatever opinions some may have based on past stuff, maybe let it go. He requested to have his account deleted, I asked him to reconsider. If he's alienated here, our kiting community is no better as a result, truth is, he has way more experience in actual teaching than some of the folks debating his findings or opinions.

I'll take Royce at his word that he only meant that you can learn just as quickly by going straight to a 4 line kite so you can get an immediate feel for depower, etc.

Having said that, ironically yesterday while this was all blowing up I had just borrowed a trainer kite to teach my kid and his buddy the fundamentals of kite flying, ie where the power zone is and more importantly where it isn't. My admittedly old school way of thinking is that my kid's limited funds are better used for lessons when he has mastered basic kite flying skills. I figure his chances of crashing a real kite are less and his learning curve faster if I go through that with him first.

I don't want to teach the kid in the water and figure that's best left to one of the many great instructors we have in the area.

I think a lot of folks will question the idea of going straight to flying a 4 line kite as it's really counterintuitive. When I learned, I was jonesing to get in the water and didn't spend enough time learning how to really fly the trainer 100%. Result.....a lot of wasted time with a kite in the water.

But I think Royce's point is that if you practice with a depowered 4 line kite on land with short lines, you'll bypass that crash and burn phase in the water. The feel and pull of a trainer just isn't the same.

But I'll still do the pre-school phase with my little 6'5" toddler on a training kite.....still seems to make sense to me and honestly never occurred to me that anybody would suggest any other way.

Hello everyone. I am a new in this sport (and in Bay Area also), but I want to start practicing with the trainer kite. I did reserch here and on different websites, and I have a question.I am 200 lb. Does HQ Rush 4 PRO Trainer Kite 3 M works for me or I need 3.5 m for my weight? I would be apreciate for any recomendations about other brands or models.

X-enon wrote:Hello everyone. I am a new in this sport (and in Bay Area also), but I want to start practicing with the trainer kite. I did reserch here and on different websites, and I have a question.I am 200 lb. Does HQ Rush 4 PRO Trainer Kite 3 M works for me or I need 3.5 m for my weight? I would be apreciate for any recomendations about other brands or models.

Thank you !

I'm not sure it matters a whole lot--it's not going to feel close to the power of a "regular" kite. The first time around, I spent $300 and got a 3m trainer. If I were doing it over again, I'd probably do one of the following:

1) Spend as little as possible on a trainer and be satisfied that I'll just be getting some exposure to the mechanics of flying, and not things like power control.

2) Try and find an old, cheap 5m with a "normal" control bar.

3) Pay for an hour or two of kite school instruction with a small-but-regular kite (6m-8m?). This would probably give me the closest experience to what I'll get when I go in the water.

Used trainer kites are hard to find, but that's what I'd try to get. don't worry too much about the specifics for the smaller kites, it's mostly about maneuvering and getting some control. Practice several hours, it's a terrific upfront investment so that when you get your lessons you don't struggle so much and spend more time on new skills versus something that you could have mastered on land with the trainer.

mcfly777 wrote:Used trainer kites are hard to find, but that's what I'd try to get. don't worry too much about the specifics for the smaller kites, it's mostly about maneuvering and getting some control. Practice several hours, it's a terrific upfront investment so that when you get your lessons you don't struggle so much and spend more time on new skills versus something that you could have mastered on land with the trainer.

Leo

What would you recommend? To buy a cheapest two lines kite? Or invest some money in three lines and save it for fun in future?